Will victory be a poisoned chalice for Spain’s new PM?

It is almost certain that on Monday, Mariano Rajoy will be Spain‘s new prime minister and command an absolute majority. The collapse in support for the country’s often fragmented left, means Rajoy’s centre-right People’s Party (PP) will take up residence at the Palacio de la Moncloa.

He will take over a country which has been severely battered by the economic storm raging around Europe and where unemployment is the highest in the EU. Among young people aged between 18 and 24 it stands at a revolution-inducing 46 per cent.

A, by all accounts, not particularly charismatic civil servant from a political family from the relatively backward Spanish region of Galicia, Mr Rajoy entered politics in his 20s.

He has traditional conservative views on social policies such as gay rights but is economically liberal. Despite this, he has moved his party from the hard to the centre-right.

Al Gore of Spanish politics

Having served as a minister in the governments of Jose Maria Aznar, he has since lost the last two Spanish general elections as leader of his party.

Dubbed the Al Gore of Spanish politics, Majoy has been the man always tipped for the top job but not quite being able to turn any advantage into a win.

This was clearly demonstrated after the Madrid train bombings in 2004 which killed 191 people, when the PP quickly blamed the atrocity on the Basque separatist ETA movement, despite the fact that evidence suggested otherwise.

The gaffe, three days before the Spanish elections, cost the party power and saw the now-outgoing premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero sweep to power.

Inheriting a country clawing its way through serious economic problems, Mr Rajoy must summon super powers to lower Spain’s unemployment rate, reform the banking system, enact long-awaited labour reforms and bring about growth.

Spain expects.